What If Bill Belichick Coached Hockey Instead?
BOSTON (CBS) -- The bulk of Bill Belichick's playing experience came in football and lacrosse, but he dabbled in hockey too. Between skating at Phillips Academy in Andover and his "Huff & Puff" league with a bunch of 30-to-40-year-olds in New Jersey, Belichick has strapped on the skates many times in his life. He just didn't have time to seriously commit the ice.
"I wish I could have played hockey. That's a great sport," Belichick said. "It's fast, lot of action, contact, skill, speed. I mean football, lacrosse, hockey – they all kind of have those elements of contact, speed, skill in variant forms, but I think they're all exciting."
He even talked about the principles of winning hockey games compared to most other sports with this quick snippet:
"There is a lot of correlation between hockey and lacrosse, too – kind of defending that same space where you can go behind the goal, you can go in front of the goal, and you're centered around a point. Like you are in basketball, you're defending a point whereas in football you're defending 53-and-a-third yards. It's a lot different when you've got to defend a line as opposed to a basket or a goal or just a small space. It changes the defensive and offensive [strategy] because everything is funneled to that one [area]. And of course you've got the goalie that is so critical to those sports. That adds another dynamic. We've had a lot of conversations about that. That's really the big difference in terms of football and defense and defense in basketball or lacrosse or hockey or those goal-oriented sports where you're defending a point as opposed to defending a lot of width."
So what if Belichick coached hockey instead of football? What if he had to defend a single net instead of a series of lines across an entire field? No doubt he would gamble with some wildly unorthodox strategies that no one else would be good enough to succeed with, and bring the same singular Belichickian identity to the Bruins that he has built with the Patriots.
So here are a bunch of things Belichick might do if he were behind the Bruins bench...
Value players similar to the real-life Bruins
Without a doubt, if Belichick coached the Bruins his favorite players would be guys like Patrice Bergeron, Loui Eriksson, and Chris Kelly. Does a lot of little things well, kills penalties, plays good defense, takes coaching well. But he'd also love to have a team full of Patrice Bergerons. The kind of three-zone, two-way versatility Bergeron provides would be the Belichickian mold for the ideal hockey player.
Besides the typical game-to-game strategizing, the Bruins' real-life identity probably wouldn't change much. Belichick would definitely want a smart, tough, balanced team like the Bruins strive to be.
You just know that Belichick would approach hockey gameplanning much like football, like...
Change strategies game-to-game, even shift-to-shift
Many franchises like the Bruins have an enduring identity. If it were the Belichickian Bruins? No matter the opponent, their identity would be "exactly the kind of team you don't want to face." Down to the last one-on-one matchup.
If Belichick had an elite faceoff man, you best believe he's sending him out there for all the faceoffs. If he's facing a skilled offensive team, he's giving you the three-defenseman look. If it's a physical game, he'll carry not one but three agitators to REALLY put the other team on tilt. If he's facing a team with a good power play they're going to look like a bunch of Lady Byng winners out there, and against a bad penalty kill they're drawing penalties with aggressive skating and forechecking (but absolutely NO embellishing!).
Belichick would obviously take out the other team's best asset every night. What if it's the goalie? Three-man screens all night. Superstars would routinely be shut down, forcing teams to score with third-and-fourth-line players.
Perhaps that's not where the adventure would end with Belichick. Imagine if he would...
Pull the goalie with a lead
You've built a 3-0 cushion about halfway through the game. Time to hang back and prevent the other team from getting back in it, right? Not if the Hoodie is calling the plays. As soon as the Bruins have the puck deep in the offensive zone, off goes Tuukka Rask for an extra attacker. You're up three goals, screw it. Try to bury them.
But there's a reason nobody does that, ever. Giving up an empty-net goal to cut into a lead is just an asinine thought. But once teams adjust, how does Belichick adjust to their adjustments?
Play with three defensemen
That's right. Three big, tough, and smart blueliners fortifying your backend, with two forwards attacking up front. Sure, the only way for this strategy not to sound certifiably insane would be if you had something like Toews and Kane up front. But good luck scoring on a shutdown defenseman in-between two big, physical puck-movers.
Even if the defensemen get beat, no worries because Belichick would definitely...
Value Goaltending As Much Or More Than Anything Else
My gut tells me Belichick would be infatuated with having as many high-end defensemen as possible on his team. But he did describe the game of hockey as defending a "point," in this case the net - so he would likely do all he can to be dominant in goal.
Belichick wouldn't stop at just getting a talented goaltender. He'd go for the tallest one he could find and make sure his pads are as big as possible ... within the rules, of course.
Between impeccable situational coaching, a lockdown netminder, and a three-man defensive wall, maybe Belichick could achieve the elusive 0-0 victory.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
